So What Happens When There's a Revolution In Your Next Travel Destination?

I'm sure you remember that I've said it before, but I am a pretty private person for a blogger and that includes revealing trips I'm planning for the future. I was going to wait until March, but since things are slowly changing day-to-day (and it might be something we can all learn from), I'm letting you know that Husband J and I are currently scheduled to travel to Egypt in mid-March. I emphasize the word currently right now.

I was hoping to see this:

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and instead there have been protests and violence in Tahrir Square. The protests are a little less tense at the time of this writing, but there is still quite a bit going on.

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Our Cairo hotel is located in downtown Cairo less than a mile from Tahrir Square.

If you haven't heard, there is major political upheaval in Egypt that became violent in the past week. I'm pretty laid-back when it comes to what's considered "dangerous" by some (perhaps I have lived in New York City too long). When things started on January 25, I was hoping that things in Egypt would proceed as they had in Tunisia. Again, this is not to say that I just wanted Egypt's citizens "to get everything over with so that I could see their country;" but rather I was hoping for a peaceful transition of power. Husband J and I were sending e-mails and text messages and keeping a general eye on what was going on while I was away in L.A.

As someone who has often written about and studied social movements, I commend the people of Egypt for demanding more from their government. I am worried about the safety of the country's citizens and visitors. I hope this political situation can be resolved and a new, stronger, more vibrant Egypt will emerge.

When I arrived back to New York, I set out to figure out what our options were as it relates to our travel insurance, our airline, and the travel company that has been helping us organize our trip. This is what I found out:

1. Travel Insurance - We have travel insurance through Travel Guard. When I first made the call to speak to a customer service rep on the phone, they beat me to the punch with a recording. It stated that there was an exclusion in the coverage of ALL of their policies in connection with trip cancellation and civil unrest. In other words, we would not get any reimbursement from the travel insurance for fees incurred by canceling our trip due to the political upheaval in Egypt. Also if we went anyway, defying any government travel warning, we would receive no reimbursement either. Yikes! No help there.

If anything, I would think this situation would be one of the reasons covered by travel insurance but apparently not. After talking to a customer service rep, this is actually an industry-wide provision in most travel insurance. If you want to avoid my situation, get a (pricey) upgrade to a "Cancel for Any Reason" additional coverage that will trump any exclusion in the travel insurance and allow any sort of cancelation. I wish I had known that beforehand. Since insurance law differs by state, this might not even be applicable in New York state, this apparently does not apply to us. Double check me on this though.

2. Airline - We are flying Turkish Airlines, and they have just started to offer refunds or free itinerary changes to customers traveling to Egypt, BUT as of the writing of this post, only for those passengers traveling to Egypt from the end of last week until February 15, 2011. Airlines loathe canceling flights, especially weeks in advance. I've been told that we would have to pay 200 Euro (NOT DOLLARS!) to change our flight. Did I mention that these tickets are non-refundable? That, too. One thing that is helping us is that we are flying through Istanbul, Turkey. More on that below...

3. Travel Company - Sometimes I use travel companies to help plan trips and other times I plan the trip solely by myself. Bali was an example of a trip that I planned alone. I ended up deciding to use our travel company, Backpacker Concierge, because a former work colleague had worked with them and enjoyed their trip, and I really liked their community-based travel philosophy. Given the circumstances, Backpacker Concierge, has actually been quite responsive. Eric, our contact who spends considerable amount of time in Egypt and is currently there, was able to find internet access when most of the country did not have it.

We are still trying to figure out our plans. Husband J wants our money back in the event we don't go. Based on my review of our booking conditions with them, its provisions are silent regarding civil unrest, etc. PRIOR to our departure (it does address changes in itinerary if things were to go awry while we're actually there). Timing is funny too because we had sent in our final payment a day BEFORE the protests started.

So what are options? Well, right now it's looking like the following:

1. Cancel our trip altogether/Postpone our trip - Husband J has been dragging lately and I think he really needs to get a break from work. It would be a shame to essentially lose a ton of money on plane tickets even if we get our money back from Backpacker Concierge.

2. Go to Turkey instead - This seems like the best option right now. We already have plane tickets to Turkey, since our tickets on Turkish Airlines have us flying through Istanbul enroute to Cairo. It may take a little extra outlay of money, and this will also have to be examined in light of what could happen with Backpacker Concierge. I've been fascinated with Turkey since watching a travel show on our way to Ireland. It won't be warm there though (although after multiple snowstorms, I guess low 50's Fahrenheit ain't all that bad).

I'll let you know what we end up doing soon.

Food Porn Friday/L.A. Revisited - Culver City's Akasha

I love when cities have their own restaurant weeks. Usually select restaurants will choose to serve three course pre-fixe meals for a certain price during lunch and/or dinner service. Los Angeles was having Dine in L.A., their version of restaurant week, while I was there. After careful scrutiny and weighing of options (I didn't want Big Mitts and I to have to drive all the way across town and hit notorious L.A. traffic), we headed to the restaurant, Akasha, near her place in the Culver City section of the L.A.

Akasha tends to favor more New American/California cuisine (I will say that it is cool that this state has its own cuisine designation), and all of the dishes really had a modern, fresh flair. I think we were happy with this choice.

We were joined by one of Big Mitt's friends, and here's what we had (FYI, it was pretty dark in there, hence some pictures are a little iffy):

First Course

Pappardelle with Duck Ragu and Pecorino Sardo

I had this, and you could tell the pappardelle (pasta) was homemade. The Rabbit was tender and flavored. Do I need to mention cheese? Hello!

Albacore (Tuna) Crudo with Pomelo, Daikon, Carrots, Pickled Ginger & a Sesame Plum Sauce

Some of you have already commented on how good this looks. It tasted even better, and I only had a bite! Totally REFRESHING! The greens were crunchy and fresh, and that TUNA was unreal: no hint of fishiness, and it melted in your mouth. A wonderful beginning to the meal.

Main Dishes

Goat Cheese Gnocchi with Wild Mushrooms Rainbow Chard and Parmigiano Reggiano (with green beans)

Big Mitts enjoyed this dish. All of the veggies were perfectly seasoned and cooked to a nice crispness. I did like the gnochhi, although it was probably not the best I've ever tasted. I would have appreciated more cheese. :)

Pepper-Seared Scallops with Sunchoke Puree, Meyer Lemon Frites, Romanesco Cauliflower & Almonds

I had this dish and was totally satisfied. I usually don't go crazy for puree, but the sunchokes enhanced the flavor of the scallops. I was wondering where the Meyer lemon was when I bit into this small little disc of tart, spiciness and sweet. There it was in a totally unexpected form. This dish felt filling yet still wholesome, healthy and comforting.

Dessert

German Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

Oh, chocolate cake, you're always a good plan, but I wanted to like this a little more than I did. I will say that I was happy that this wasn't the usual run of the mill German chocolate cake that is overly sweet with way too much coconut. The chocolate was not cloying and a whole top layer of chocolate was definitely called for. Good, but not amazing.

Rice Pudding with Cardamom Shortbread, Bruleed Bananas & Ginger Cream

The rice pudding itself was kinda meh, but let's talk about how ingenious that ginger infused whipped cream was. The cream was a perfect consistency, and the small pieces of fresh ginger took it to a new level. Whoa! Big Mitts ate this and thought the bananas were perfectly glazed. We all agreed that they could have made an entire dessert out of the cream and bananas.

In addition to being a restaurant, Akasha also has a bakery and caters. I love neighborhood gems like this, and I'm glad Big Mitts has a wonderful place like Akasha so close by.

Akasha

9543 Culver Boulevard

Culver City, CA 90232

Happy Weekend!

L.A. Revisited - Back from Cali!

Hey, all!

Life is slowly getting back to normal after this trip. By the time this post goes up, I will have been back home for several days now. Minus his continuous usage of the N word (sigh...) and other expletives, I love this Notorious B.I.G. song because Biggie reiterates the fact that while his beloved Brooklyn/NYC will always come first, he definitely gives props to Los Angeles. I think I'll do the same here. Big props to you, L.A. It was nice to be back there after such a long time and even more wonderful to be in the sun and share good times and good food with my girl, Big Mitts. :)

Here are few images from my short time there. More posts to come in the next few weeks.

Big Mitts & Me!

It's good to be blogging again!

Project Dinner Party - I Need Your Help

Hey, everyone! I am back from L.A. I'm having some "issues" as they relate to computer access(nothing mechanical just some other things), so posting may be light this week. Hopefully, it won't. In the mean time, please see below 'cause I need your help!


Remember when I mentioned that I wanted to entertain more this year? Well, we've started already trying to stick to our goals in the Try Anything Once household. This upcoming weekend, Husband J and I are going to be hosting a dinner party for some of Husband J's work friends/colleagues. To be honest, I've very rarely cooked for people that I don't know very well. Usually if you're a friend, and we've hung out before, you most likely like me; and so you won't care if I screw up a meal. :) Luckily, I haven't screwed up a meal YET! Our invited guests are coming from Manhattan on a what will presumably be a cold weekend night, I've never met them, these are people who see Husband J everyday. I want to make a good impression and not serve them garbage. Can you tell?


You all have been helpful in the past, so I'd love to hear what you think about whatI should do for this dinner party. Just to let you know, it will be Husband J and me as well as four other couples. The only dietary restrictions that I know of are no shellfish for one guy. So far, I haven't gotten any indications that there are any vegetarians. So.....


1. Mini-Buffet vs. One Pot Meal - When we entertained for a crowd the last time, I made several small dishes and had everyone dig into whatever they wanted. If you wanted a ton of chicken or roasted vegetables, then you could create the meal you wanted. I'm leaning towards this since there will probably be a variety of palates, and I want to cover my bases. The other option is making a large main dish that will probably include a veggie and protein and then make an accompaniment (rice, couscous, maybe some other pasta). The benefit of this of course is way less work for me. That being said, it's less variety for my guests. I know entertaining should be easy breezy, but I like the idea of having a little something for everyone.


2. Disposable Plates vs. Real Plates - Husband J suggested that we buy disposable plates instead of using what we've got here. Honestly we're all adults here; our guest count is pretty manageable; and we have a dish washer. If I clean up throughout the cooking process, it's not going to be that bad. I want to use real plates, but um...I don't think we've got a full set of ten. Er...Even our pretty china we inherited is only service for eight people. Perhaps maybe we just get some upscale disposable ones like these below?

(source for all images)

3. Sure, Guest, You Can Bring.....- I know that people want to give the hosts a little something upon arriving. I usually ask for dessert or wine. I would feel awful though if someone dropped money on dessert and then someone else bought some bargain, but very good, Trader Joe's wine. Should I not be worried about that? Should I coordinate? Of course this is all 'cause this is a new group of people. If it was just my friends, I'd surely tell them what to do. :)

Let me know what you think! Am I over thinking everything?

Back Trackin', Cali Edition - Muir Woods National Monument

If you remember my posts last year about our Grand Canyon trip, you'll know that I don't really have much camping/outdoor experience, so I really appreciated our quick jaunt through Muir Woods National Monument on our way to Napa Valley from San Francisco. What was most striking to me is how rustic the Northern California landscape becomes, and you're barely a half hour from the outskirts of San Francisco. I will say that Husband J and I were quite smitten with the rolling green hills and winding tree-lined roads. You're beautiful, NorCal.

Muir Woods National Monument is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (By the way, when you hear the word "monument", don't you think of a structure or a statue? I do.). It was established by federal legislation signed in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt and is named in honor of John Muir, a noted conservationist of that time. This area has been important to the coastal native Miwok peoples as well as became a part of the early tourism industry in California. It's still popular today, and we saw that with the small crowd we encountered early on a Saturday morning.

For me, this park is really about the trees, gorgeous tall redwood trees, something the Northeast landscape lacks. We were at Muir Woods in late November/early December, and I thought it was a nice time because there really weren't very many people there. Also going first thing in the morning helped. I say go early and in the off season because what was most memorable about our experience was the early peace and calm of the forest. Muir Woods' paths are paved making the park pretty accessible for all ages and abilities, which I think means that it's probably packed in the spring and summer months.

But do you blame people for wanting to come here? Look at this....

Looking up into the tree tops...

I will admit to you that I have never been so taken by trees before in my life. Just look at the bark. I imagine that this tree has been through a lot.

Here's a blurry pic of Husband J next to one of the tree trunks. I think that that tree is older than multiple generations of people. At least.

We finally found someone to take a picture of us. Don't I look tired? LOL!

I wanted to hide out in here, in this tree's hollowed out trunk, but we couldn't just jump over the barrier. Oh well!

I hope all of these pictures have inspired you to get outside into nature (it's 6 degrees Farenheit right now in New York, so I'll be trying to stay inside.). If you are in the Bay Area, hankering for some quiet and nature, definitely check out Muir Woods National Monument.

In My Hood/Food Porn Friday - Roman's

Roman's is an Italian restaurant that opened this past fall in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. It's from the same group of people who opened the offbeat Williamsburg, Brooklyn restaurant, Marlow & Sons and the traditional butcher shop, Marlow & Daughters, which specializes in grass-fed meats and makes its own sausage (they've got another restaurant, Diner, too...busy people!). All of these places are pretty well known and notoriously delicious, so I wanted to see how this team would tackle Italian cuisine.

Roman's doesn't take reservations, but my friend MY and I were there early on a weekday night. This restaurant isn't that big, so I can only imagine what it's like on a weekend night.

I will say that what I love most about my area are the many neighborhoody restaurants that it has. Roman's has the feel of a small neighborhood place, but they take their service seriously.

For our appetizer:

Warm Beets with Goat Cheese, Walnuts & Horseradish

Yum! Beets are the best of both worlds, aren't they? Sweet and a vegetable. Score!

Lamb Chops with Saffron Turnips & Brocoli Rabe

This was MY's dish. I had a smidgen of this and thought it was flavorful and quite tender.

My dish: Chicken Leg Polepettine

Definitely not what I imagined it would be. It was essentially like a chicken meatball wrapped in spinach in a broth. It was extremely simple but slightly salty for me (maybe I am losing my salt tolerance in my old age?).

Finally the dessert that MY and I shared:

If I remember correctly, this was a ricotta cake with baked pear and fresh cream.

What a perfect way to end a meal! The cream was so smooth and whipped to utter perfection. I could have had anything with that cream, and it would have tasted great. The cake was moist, spongy and had more of an almond vanilla flavor. Baked pear is really nice to have at this time of year, and dessert with fruit always makes me feel like I am eating something relatively healthy. Ha! :)

I am definitely going back to Roman's later this year, since the menu changes constantly (if not daily).

Roman's

243 DeKalb Avenue

Brooklyn, New York

Happy Weekend!

Where to Next? - Weesst Siiiidee!

That's right. I'm going to throw up a big 'ol W, and let you know that I will be making my first trip to Los Angeles in a VERY long time next week. It's been a whopping almost 8 1/2 years since I set foot in L.A. It's gone by so quickly that in some respects it seems like yesterday that I left. I'll be doing a little bit of "work" on Project X that I mentioned in my goals for 33, but I will also be visiting my wonderful friend, Big Mitts (obviously NOT her real name), a good friend who moved out to L.A. several months ago.

I've been trying to think about what I'd like to see while I am in L.A. Unlike many parts of the country, I actually lived in L.A. for two summers for a total of about six months, so I don't really approach my time there as a true tourist. Yet, I do want to see a few things that I haven't seen in awhile or a place or two that I've never been.

I've got my eye on possibly doing the following:

1) Heading to Venice Beach boardwalk/Santa Monica

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Yeah, perhaps a little cheesy and touristy, but I like seeing L.A. not take itself too seriously. The Venice Beach boardwalk is good for that. :) Besides, I have not seen the Pacific Ocean in a very long time. We're about to get another snowstorm here and even being able to go to the beach seems glorious right now.

2) Gazing endlessly into space literally at the Griffith Park Observatory

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Maybe I'll get my geek on and watch a cool movie at the Observatory's Planetarium.

3) Shopping

Melrose Avenue

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Rodeo Drive

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Well, more like window shopping and browsing than any actual real shopping. I've hit my self-imposed shopping hiatus for awhile. Unless it's something that will keep me warmer in the next few weeks (like a good winter scarf), I'm most likely not going to buy anything (but who knows?). Either way, I've never really walked around the Rodeo Drive area before, so why not do a Julia Roberts "Pretty Woman" stroll around just to say that I've been.

Also I've got to find some food!

I've already gotten some feedback on a few places already:

In -N Out Burger - When I lived in L.A. last, I was a committed vegetarian/pescetarian, so the one burger I had from In -N Out made me not feel so great. Not eating meat over time will do that to you. I'm DEFINITELY going to try this much beloved burger chain again. Is it really worth it to get their burgers "animal style"? ;)

Versailles - suggested by Cathy of Wifey Lifey

Kogi BBQ

Eveleigh

Animal

Some good Mexican would be great since apparently the West Coast has the East beat in this respect (at least this is what I am told). Any suggestions?

So yeah, with another 2-4 inches of snow coming tomorrow, I'm dreaming about low 70s /high 60 degree temperatures right about now. Let's hope there's no snow next week either. Sigh...

Any L.A. recommendations for me? What's your favorite place to eat or visit in L.A.?